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Albert Einstein/Transcript
Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A robot, Moby, is standing in the living room. He is wearing a white, unkempt Albert Einstein wig. A boy, Tim, joins him. He is holding a similar wig. TIM: Okay, found it. Where's that letter? Moby hands Tim an envelope. MOBY: Beep. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Why is Albert Einstein such a well-known guy? From, Viv. Tim puts on his Albert Einstein wig. TIM: Good question. Most scientists aren't household names, but Albert Einstein was one-of-a-kind. He became a worldwide celebrity not just for his work in physics, but also for his personality. An image shows Albert Einstein. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, people's image of the friendly, absent-minded science professor with sloppy hair, that's all based on Albert Einstein. An image shows a movie poster with an Einstein-like character holding a remote control device. TIM: Today, his name is practically a synonym for genius. An image shows someone explaining a diagram on a chalkboard. An animation shows a student in a classroom with a thought bubble that says, What an Einstein! TIM: Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879. A world map appears and then a red arrow points to Ulm, Germany. TIM: He was kind of a slow starter. He didn't talk until he was three. An image shows Einstein as a youngster, holding an apple and frowning at it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it just goes to show you that people develop at different speeds. I mean, Albert taught himself geometry when he was twelve. An image shows a slightly older Einstein drawing a circle with a protractor. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Nope. It's a myth that Einstein was bad at math. He was actually a very good student, especially in math. What is true is that he wasn't very fond of the high school he went to. The teachers were really strict, and Einstein felt there wasn't enough room for independent thought. An animation shows a stern teacher lecturing a teenage Einstein. TIM: So, when his family moved to Italy, he dropped out. Einstein eventually finished high school in Switzerland and enrolled in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He realized pretty quickly that physics was his calling. An animation shows Einstein walking past the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology building. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Physics is the study of how the natural world behaves, and math is the language used to describe this behavior. Images show an apple falling to the ground and a mathematical formula for the same falling apple. TIM: Some scientists spend their whole careers puzzling out complex mathematical equations, but Einstein was more interested in the big questions, like, how does gravity really work? But he wasn't a very conscientious student. He would often cut class to study physics on his own, or to practice the violin. An image shows a college-age Einstein alone in a room full of books, playing a violin. TIM: He managed to graduate in 1900 but couldn't get a teaching job, mainly because his old professors wouldn't give him good recommendations. An image shows Einstein in a cap and gown, graduating college. A stern professor appears and shakes his head, denying Einstein's request for a recommendation. TIM: So he took whatever work he could find, as a tutor, a substitute teacher, and finally, a patent office clerk. Images show Einstein working at these different jobs. TIM: In his spare time, Einstein studied physics and developed his own theories. Finally, in 1905, all the hard work started to pay off. An image shows Einstein studying intently at night. TIM: At age 26, Einstein published four papers that would forever change the course of physics! They later became known as the Annus Mirabilis Papers. An image shows a pencil and a sheet of paper with notes and calculations written on it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oh, annus mirabilis is Latin for, wonderful year. The first paper, on the photoelectric effect, described how light acts both as a wave and as a particle at the same time. An animation shows light as waves and then as particles. TIM: Einstein won the Nobel Prize for that one in 1921. An image shows Einstein with his Nobel Prize medal. TIM: The second paper confirmed the existence of molecules and atoms by explaining why tiny particles in a fluid move around in random, herky-jerky ways. This phenomenon is called Brownian motion. An image shows a complex pattern of lines, representing the movement of particles. TIM: The third paper detailed Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity. In it, he concluded that in an empty space, the speed of light never changes. An image shows Moby flipping on a flashlight in the dark. A graphic reads, speed of light equals 299,792,458 meters per second. TIM: He also described how space and time aren't absolute. They can change depending on the vantage point of an observer. An image shows a night sky filled with stars. TIM: It was in his fourth paper that Einstein formulated his famous E= mc2 equation, which basically says that energy and matter are two forms of the same thing. An image shows the formula E= mc2. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, some in the scientific community denounced Einstein; they disagreed with his approach to the relationship between theory and experimentation. But Einstein wasn't fazed. While he continued his job at the patent office, he started working toward becoming a physics professor. In 1911, he finally reached his goal. After that, he moved quickly up the academic ranks. An image shows a smiling Einstein in a cap and gown. TIM: Then, in 1916, Einstein published his Theory of General Relativity, which is a grand description of how the force of gravity works in the universe. It's a pretty complicated topic, but you can learn a lot more about it in our movie on relativity. An animation shows our solar system. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, not everybody bought into his ideas right away. But over time, his theories have been largely proved by experimentation. An image shows an observatory with a telescope aimed at the night sky and the stars. TIM: Eventually, Einstein became an international celebrity. An animation shows Einstein walking along the red carpet, with flashbulbs going off around him. Einstein is sticking out his tongue. TIM: He used his fame to carry his message of world peace. An image shows a world map with a large peace sign over it. TIM: As a German-born Jew, Einstein was uncomfortable with Adolf Hitler's rise to power. An image shows Adolf Hitler and swastikas. TIM: So in 1933, he moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he continued his research at the Institute for Advanced Study. An image shows Princeton, New Jersey on a map of the United States. TIM: He died in 1955 at the age of seventy-six, but his contributions to physics and humanity live on to this day. Tim looks over at Moby, who now has a fake tongue strapped over his mouth, imitating Einstein in the earlier image. TIM: Umm, okay. The wig is one thing, but that's just creepy. Moby turns and slowly moves his face toward Tim. TIM: Please take it off. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts